Sharlene Santana

I was born and grew up in the tropics, and have been curious about nature from an early age. This interest led me to pursue a career as an evolutionary biologist, and to focus my research on understanding the mechanisms that lead to differences in phenotypic and lineage diversity across groups of mammals. As an integrative biologist, my research approaches this topic by examining three fundamental aspects of the ecology and evolution of biological systems: (1) lineage diversification, (2) phenotypic diversification, and (3) the roles of morphological and behavioral evolution on organismal performance.

The long-term goal of my research is to elucidate the evolutionary dynamics among behavior, morphology and function, and their role in shaping species’ ecologies and patterns of lineage diversification. I strive to use innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to investigate evolutionary and ecomorphological hypotheses, and my lab combines techniques and knowledge from multiple disciplines, including comparative anatomy, ecology, evolutionary biology, genetics, engineering, physics, and geography.